[MOBILE-SPECIFIC] How to Receive Notifications About Comments on Tasks

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[MOBILE-SPECIFIC] How to Receive Notifications About Comments on Tasks

Zoe 20

My coworkers aren't receiving pop up notifications on their Planner tasks when comments are added. They do not have access to computers, only Teams and Planner on mobile so anything involving changing their settings on PC isn't an option. I'm the admin, and can make any changes on PC on the backend if needed, but I seem to have edited everything through groups, admin centre, Teams, Planner, etc. to adjust these settings but nothing is working. Some are Android some are iPhone, all have this issue. They are receiving emails every time they make a comment on their own task, yet others that are assigned the task don't receive emails about the comment. People need to know when someone else has commented. The Planner and Teams apps on mobile do not have the task chat feature yet, so tagging with mentions isn't an option. They are assigned to the tasks and have notifications turned on, in the Teams/Planner settings and in their phone settings. Additionally, they would prefer not to be emailed when they have commented on their own task, and they have turned off "follow in inbox" on their Outlook->Groups. Would appreciate any input on how to fix this!

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Answer 1

Dear @Zoe

Thank you for the detailed explanation. I understand how important it is for your team to be notified when someone comments on a task, especially since everyone is working from mobile devices only.

Based on how Microsoft Planner currently works, what you are experiencing is expected behavior rather than an issue with your setup. When a user adds a comment to a task, that user may receive an email because they are now part of the conversation thread, but other users who are assigned to the task are not automatically notified when new comments are added. For more information, please refer to Stay updated with notifications in Planner

First of all, you can check the Planner’s ability to send mobile push notifications. However, it does not change when notifications are triggered.

Set-PlannerConfiguration -AllowPlannerMobilePushNotifications $true

Regarding the emails users receive when commenting on their own tasks, this is also expected and cannot be fully controlled via the “Follow in inbox” setting, since some notifications are generated directly by Planner rather than through Outlook group settings.

At this time, there is unfortunately no admin setting, backend configuration, or PowerShell command that can force Planner to send notifications to all assigned users whenever a comment is added.

Moreover, after researching further based on your needs, one possible approach is to use Power Automate. While Power Automate doesn’t provide a direct trigger for Planner comments, you can work around this by leveraging the Office 365 Groups Mail connector to monitor the group mailbox. When a comment is added to a Planner task, an email is sent to the group mailbox; Power Automate can detect that email, trigger a flow, and then send a Teams message or an email notification to the relevant people.

For a detailed example, you can refer to this guide

If you review the suggested approach and feel it’s suitable, then during the process of building this flow, if you get stuck or have any additional questions, I recommend posting in the Microsoft Power Platform Community Forum Thread.

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Apologies for redirecting you to a different community, but I want to clarify that this category mainly focuses on Microsoft Teams concerns, out-of-the-box features, and configuration. Members here (including myself) typically have limited knowledge about Power Automate. To make sure you receive the most accurate and helpful guidance, posting in the Power Platform forum will connect you with the right experts and other partners who regularly share their knowledge and learn from similar interactions. I hope you can understand this recommendation.

Thank you again for raising this question. It’s a great one and really highlights an important gap in the current functionality. If this answer helps you understand the current limitations and points you toward the right resources or channels, I’d truly appreciate it if you could click “Accept answer” for this post. Doing so will make it easier for others with the same concern to find this information.

If you have any additional questions within my scope here, feel free to ask, I’ll do my best to assist. Wishing you success in implementing the solution and a smooth experience ahead!

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